Illegal taxis that deceive people by carrying the names of established taxi operators remain a major headache for HCM City authorities.

Vinasun and Mai Linh, the two most popular names in the business are also the most popular names for the illegal operators to use, and the two bear the brunt of the disgruntlement customers feel when they are fleeced by the illegal taxis.

Last month, Viet Nam Aùnh Duong Joint Stock Co, the operator of Vinasun taxis, wrote to authorities to complain about the fake taxis, asking them to round them up.

Ta Long Hy, general director of Vinasun, said more and more disgruntled customers were coming in to complain about the illegal taxis.

After apparently being overcharged by Vinasun taxis or had their belongings stolen in the vehicles or being treated rudely by drivers, they would complain to his office only to discover the taxis were fakes, he explained.

Inspectors from the Department of Transport said they discovered and fined many of the illegal taxis in recent times.

One of them said the illegal taxi drivers were mostly those who used to work for big taxi companies before quitting and starting their own illegal operation.

The department said the best way to tackle the problem was for its inspectors to establish close links with the traffic police, taxi operators and local authorities.

More than 220 taxis operating at the Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCM City have been found violating regulations after a joint-inspection campaign that began in January following media reports of tourist harassment by taxi drivers.

Fines of about VND300 million (US$15,000) were imposed for various violations including driving taxis without the company's badge and/or service operation licence, as well as not following rules on picking up passengers at the airport.

Many drivers tried to serve passengers without using meters, trying to fix arbitrary trips for prices. Several refused to accept passengers for short distances.

Irrational

Le Hong Viet, deputy chief of the city's transport department, said irrational organisation of taxi services by airport authorities had led to unhealthy competition between taxi companies.

Viet said the authorities should have clear and fair policies and publicise them so that every company and driver clearly understands them.

The behaviour of drivers has also been blamed on taxi operators' weak management. "Not all taxi operators have a standard operations policy, and some even allow drivers to do anything they want," said Duong Hong Thanh, the department's deputy director.

The department said it would work with airport authorities and taxi operators to come up with a model that has passengers queue up to taxi by turns.

Experts have noted that several taxi operators do not offer services of high standards and said authorities need to intervene because they affect the reputation of the city as a whole.